If you are in debt, you may be feeling like you are not as intelligent as you really are. Take a look at these useful techniques to help you regain your potential.
Analyze the Deficits
If you are in debt, you need to know what you owe. Take a look at all your current deficits and debts. Record them and keep them organized. Anything from credit cards to mortgages, if you owe someone money, it’s a debt.
Now, for each debt, you should list the interest rate next to it along with a ballpark estimate of how much you could pay a month or are paying each month. After these steps are finished, add up these numbers so you can get a good look at everything at once and have a clear idea of what you really owe.
Inquire About Decreasing Current Rates
In order to be able to effectively get rid of debt, interest rates should be as low as possible. If any interest rate is above 15%, it wouldn’t hurt to ask your bank about lowering their rates. It is usually the case that if you have been on time with payments, they wouldn’t have a problem doing this. If you are serious about debt reduction get those interest rates down!
Moving Balances Elsewhere
If a bank denies all of your requests to decrease the interest rate of a particular debt, research other offers from different credit card companies to see if you can get to a rate in which you were looking for. Just be careful because these companies could have hidden fees. Make sure you look carefully before you accept an offer.
Take It Slow
Since you now have the lowest rates possible, you are ready to begin paying off those debts one at a time. This is when debt reduction begins to commence. It’s up to you to decide which debt you would like to begin reducing first. Pick out the one you want out first and begin paying the minimums each month for the other debts. Any extra money each month would go to the debt you have chosen to reduce first. Repeat this process until your debts are paid off. It’s a long drawn out process but with patience and determination it works.
Some Tips for Debt Reduction
Here are some tips to maintain your newly found ways of reducing your debt!
- Garage Sale- Everyone has old junk that you don’t need, but as the saying goes, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure! Try to consolidate all of your “never used” items and sell them to make some extra money to go toward your debt! If a garage sale isn’t your ideal way to do this, try Amazon or other useful selling websites.
- Empty the Coin Jar- If you don’t have a coin jar. You should really consider starting one. If you do, cash them in and make an equal payment to what you have in coins! So, if you have 100 dollars in that coin jar, make a 100 dollar payment to the debt of your choice along with the extra coin money! That’s 200 dollars right there. This is a very effective technique of debt reduction especially when it is repeated many times.
- Smart Shopping- Everyone knows about coupons and sales in grocery stores but not too many know it can help with reducing debt! Try to save as many coupons as you can and use them every time you shop. You have the potential to save a lot of money that can go into debt reduction.
- Self-Work- If you hire someone to do your outside or inside work, consider saving money by doing it yourself. It may take some extra time out of your week but the money you would pay them could go into your monthly debt payments.
- Survey Taking- Consider signing up for paid online surveys that pay you for giving feedback about a particular topic. The completion rate depends on you. More completed surveys leads to more money to put toward your debt reduction payments.
- Holiday Money- If you have a family member that likes to send money in a Christmas card or Birthday card, use this money to go toward your debt reduction payments.
- Using an Acquired Skill for Cash- Most everyone has some type of unique skill whether it is a musician or magician or any other type of talent. Use this to your benefit, you could teach music lessons or perform magic at parties. Think of a unique way to use your talent to make some extra cash.
- Extra Cash toward Debt Reduction- Make a promise to yourself that you will take any extra cash you make throughout the year and put it towards reducing your debt. This included your yearly tax-return, a promotion at work, or any other extra cash experience.